


There Are Monsters Nearby

by cinematicara



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Family, Family Dynamics, Gen, Good times, Hurt/Comfort, I just love them a lot okay, Light Angst, Piglin Hybrid Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Sleepyboisinc - Freeform, Wrote this at 2am, also pain, and then i failed said math final, i love pain, i skipped studying for my math final to write this, sbi fd au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28137855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinematicara/pseuds/cinematicara
Summary: Philza had been avoiding telling Techno the real reason he wasn't allowed to sleep in the house with the rest of the family for nearly a decade, but tonight that might just have to change."This is a spilling of the heart,With no intent to fall apart.I don't feel like I'm even here.You may just watch me disappear."-Alone and Sublime, Mother Mother
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Phil Watson, Dave | Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 501





	There Are Monsters Nearby

**Author's Note:**

> Hey gang, my twitter gc likes to theorize at 2am and the theories are always INSANELY inspiring so here! Have this. Obviously based on the idea that the rest of Techno's family can't sleep when he's nearby since he's technically a mob :]
> 
> I wrote this with my homies in mind, but comments and kudos from everyone are still super appreciated!
> 
> but anyways yeah this is dedicated to anarchygc - crow, neo, KB, cindy, and everyone else who pipes in from time to time: you inspire me so much MWAH, NOW TAKE THIS INSTEAD OF THE SCUFFED GOOGLE DOCS SCREENSHOTS I SENT LAST NIGHT

“Dad? How come Tommy and Wilbur get to sleep in the house?” 

Philza’s heart sank to the soles of his worn leather boots at the sound of his eldest son’s quiet voice from the doorway. He’d heard the question many times before, and it always breaks his heart more than any other question could, but how could he tell him the truth? How could any parent ever look their child in the eyes and tell them that what they are—what makes them different from the rest—is cause for segregation?

Techno was standing shivering in the front doorway, despite the heavy wool blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders. Wilbur and Tommy would have been woken upon his reentry to the house; they never had been able to get to sleep around Techno, an unfortunate result of the psychological hardwiring meant to keep people alert in the presence of monsters. No. Not monsters. “ _ Mobs _ ,” Philza would always quickly correct whenever the boys used the other term. He didn’t like the word ‘monster,’ and everything it implied. Techno had a difficult enough time fitting in with his brothers, the last thing Philza needed was him growing up thinking he was born to be evil. As far as Philza was concerned, Techno was fine knowing he wasn’t the same as his brothers, but telling him that his… uniqueness had an actual negative physical effect on his family was simply out of the question.

Philza shifted his weight awkwardly as he turned to face the small boy. “We’ve been over this, Techno,” he sighed. “I’ll explain it to you when you’re older.”

Techno frowned. “But why? I’m almost thirteen years old, Dad.”

Philza crossed the room and knelt in front of his son, lifting his chin with a gentle thumb until their eyes met. “Techno, I promise it’ll all make sense one day, but for now I really just need you to trust me. Okay?”

Techno nodded reluctantly, his gaze dropping back to the floor. “I trust you, Dad.”

“Good boy,” Philza said and tenderly patted him on the cheek. “Now off to bed. I’ll be out soon, just need to check on the other two.”

He peeked in on Wilbur and Tommy, who, as expected, were slowly sitting up, disoriented by their sudden awakening. 

“Shhh, go back to sleep,” Philza coaxed the two sleepy boys as they rubbed their eyes in confusion. “Techno just came in for a glass of water, nothing to worry about.”

When at last they had drifted off again—a sign that Techno had indeed returned to his designated place—Philza retrieved his robe from his own bedroom, snagged his slippers from the floor, and headed out into the night after his eldest son.

It hadn’t taken much time after Philza had adopted Techno to realize he wasn’t your average three-year-old. As the boy grew, his bottom canines had elongated into curved ivory tusks that protruded from his lower lip, his hair had darkened from its natural shade of stark white to a surprising pale pink, and his pointed ears turned downwards to form an odd sort of triangular shape. And then there was the proximity thing. From the moment Philza had met Techno, he had felt on high alert. At first, he assumed it was because of the boy’s near-constant hyperactive enthusiasm—high energy people had always seemed to drain Philza—but after the first couple of nights of trying and failing to fall asleep despite his prevailing exhaustion, and especially after the boy’s energy began to fade with age, he realized the issue went far deeper than simply being a hyperactive toddler.

He knew even then that no one would give Techno the care he would, and so he had decided to make things work. He had spent an entire summer building a small wooden shack about a half-mile from the main house, and although it was quite small, it served its purpose well. The house was decorated and heated to ensure that Techno could still feel at home in his private place, but Philza knew he still felt ostracized from his family. It broke him every night to have to send Techno to bed so far from the others, but it was the only way. Truly, he had thought of everything, but no matter what he tried, the distance seemed to be the only thing to make a difference. 

Philza did truly try to make things more bearable for his son. He knew he was freezing out there due to his Nether origins. All the thick blankets and wool pajamas and blazing fireplaces in the world couldn’t seem to make a difference, and so oftentimes, in an attempt to help his small shivering boy, Philza would snuggle up with him in the too-small twin-sized bed, desperately hoping his own body heat would be enough to ease Techno’s trembling. He also knew that Techno was terrified of being alone out there. He couldn’t exactly blame him. It was dark and scary, and that had been how Philza had found him in the Nether in the first place: just a tiny piglin, alone in a barren wasteland, utterly abandoned by its family. He hated the idea of Techno feeling like he was being left behind again, and so, every night, with eyelids drooping and movements sluggish from exhaustion, he made the short trek to the small shack. He could never stay the entire night of course, just long enough for Techno to drift off to sleep, but even still, the experience was taxing. 

The snow crunched beneath Philza’s work boots as he made his way across the property. Sooner or later he would have to tell him the truth about why he had to spend his nights so far from home, but he decided that tonight would not be the night. He reached the little building and gave the secret knock that identified him to Techno: three short raps of the knuckle followed by a single solid knock. 

“Coming!” the boy’s voice called from inside. The door opened, hitting Philza with a blast of warm air. It really was toasty in the shack, which only seemed to make him more sleepy whenever he was there. 

“Hey, my little pig champ,” Philza beamed, pushing his fatigue to the back of his mind and ruffling Techno’s soft pink curls as he stepped inside and shook the snow from his shoes. “Pretty cold out there! You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Techno answered, but the army of goosebumps prickled up on his arms told Philza otherwise. 

“Let’s get you tucked in, I’ll tell you a story and you’ll be asleep in no time.”

Techno nodded but paused as he made his way back towards the bed piled high with blankets. “Hey, Dad?” he asked hesitantly without turning back to face Philza. “Do you think you could stay tonight? I know you leave every night but… it’s so cold and dark and I wake up alone in the middle of the night and I just hate it so much.” Philza’s heart sank. Of course he would, he would do absolutely  _ anything _ for his little pink-haired boy, but…but he was already so tired. He was desperate for a good sleep. 

“Techno…” he began, unsure of how to phrase his concern without revealing the difficult truth.

“It doesn’t have to be every night,” Techno clarified quickly. “I know you like the other house more than out here. Just, please, for tonight, please stay.”

Philza’s heart broke all over again. What could he say to that?

“Of course I can, Techno,” he assured him. “I’ll stay with you tonight.”

***

He figured it was roughly 3:30 in the morning when Techno suddenly shot up, his eyes wide and chest heaving with ragged breaths.

“Techno? You alright, mate?” Philza’s tone was heavy with alarm. “Bad dream?”

“Yeah,” Techno gasped. “Very bad dream.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Not really. I just need a minute to breathe.”

“Take your time, son.” Philza swung his legs over the side of the bed, happy for an excuse to escape the mound of blankets. Frankly, he could use a breather himself. It was sweltering in the room, and thin beads of sweat had begun to form and then trickle their way down his back as he sat with his head in his hands. He was so tired he could barely think straight, but no matter how hard he willed himself to drift off, he just couldn’t. Not with Techno around. 

“Can’t sleep?” Techno asked. “What is it, insomnia or something?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Philza answered miserably. 

When Techno next spoke his voice was as quiet as the flutter of dragonfly wings against a windstorm. “You don’t have to lie to me. Dad. It’s because I’m a monster, isn’t it.”

It came across as a statement, an observation, not as a question. So he had figured it out at last.

Philza spun to face him. “Don’t you dare call yourself that. You know I hate that word. You’re no monster, Techno.”

“Fine, a mob then. Either way, it makes no difference. It finally clicked for me the other day and I just wanted to test my hypothesis. Every now and then, I’m woken up for no reason. No matter how tired I am, I just can’t seem to fall back asleep. Then I’ll hear a zombie moaning outside or a skeleton rattling around, they move on, and after a while I can sleep again. It’s the same with me, isn’t it? Because I’m part piglin?”

Philza sighed. There was no use in avoiding it anymore. “Yes, Techno. You have to sleep way out here because the rest of us physically cannot fall asleep while you’re nearby. It’s terrible, believe me, the rest of us hate this just as much as you do.”

The cabin was silent for several moments. Finally, Techno spoke. “You never should have taken me in. I’ve always been nothing but a burden to you and the others.”

Philza’s eyebrows shot up in alarm. “Why would you say that? You’re an essential member of the family! You’ve never been a burden, Techno! We made things work, didn’t we? It isn't ideal, but it’s a solution, right?”

“It isn’t just this...” Techno sounded miserable.“There’s so much more to it than just this, dad, you have no idea.”

“So tell me,” Philza pleaded. “Talk to me, Techno. What are we doing wrong?”

“It isn’t you, you’ve been nothing but good to me from the very beginning. It’s just that…” He trailed off. “I don’t know how to tell you this in a way that won’t totally freak you out, but I— I hear voices, Dad. Every second of every day, and they say the most awful things.” He covers his hands with his ears and squeezes his eyes shut. “They demand blood, and sometimes it’s so hard to resist. Every day I’m afraid that I’ll just snap. I know it’s for the best that I’m way out here away from you guys at night. I’m a killer at heart, that’s what they say to me. I don’t know what I’d do if anything bad happened to you guys because of me.” He had begun to sob as he spoke, his shoulders shaking from the cold and the raw terror in his voice as he cried. 

Philza took Techno firmly by the shoulders. “Listen to me very carefully, Technoblade. You. Are. Not. A killer. You’re not a monster, you’re not a bad person, you’re not  _ any  _ of those things. What you are is my son. You’re Wilbur and Tommy’s big brother. You’re a prodigy with a sword, hell, you’re better than me at twelve years old, and I  _ taught  _ you the bloody thing. You make me laugh, Techno. You make me cry. You make me proud. You are  _ not _ a killer.”

Techno smiled weakly and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “Thanks, Dad. It’s been especially bad lately, and I really needed to hear those words. Really, you have no idea how badly I needed to hear that.”

“Come here,” Philza said, pulling Techno into a fierce hug. They were both crying now, their tears dampening the other’s shoulders as they clung to each other. “You know I wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

“I know, Dad” Techno sniffled. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too. I know things are difficult for you, but I promise everything will work out. You’re going to do amazing things someday, Technoblade. And I swear I will be there with you every step of the way.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> -Hope you enjoyed your stay :]
> 
> -Kudos and comments super appreciated!!! Don't be shy!
> 
> -Also follow me on twitter @PlGLlNS, all L's no i's, i make sad dream smp bangers and stuff whip dab


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